Report 321
Report #321 Skillset: Phantasms Skill: Whispers Org: Shadowdancers Status: Completed Feb 2010 Furies' Decision: Whisper eq time slightly increased. Problem: I have exacting logs which show the fact that mages, even without an equilibrium bonus to aide their recovery, can permanently keep a target off concentrate level equilibrium by recasting Whispers continuously until the afflicted is killed. Even with concentrate being approximately 2s long, the equilibrium used from Whispers matches it - which would be even less should they activate Celerity upon their person or are boosted by a passive effect (such as Cacophony +eq bonus/malus, etc.). With a 1p casting cost, casting it just 6 times for 6p will last long enough for even the longest of timed instakills to go through. A log is available upon request if so desired. 0 R: 0 Solution #1: Give whispers the standard 4s casting time and up its power cost to 2p. Comparable to Stag's StagStomp but cheaper since it doesn't break limbs. Player Comments: ---on 2/18 @ 00:18 writes: I'm not exactly well-versed with mages, but you-know-who has asked the following to be noted: There is no need for this change. It also seems centered around poor, misinformation. Stagstomp in Stagform costs 2p. Stagform also works synergically with sap and passive confusion - neither of which are an issue for whisper. I also have tested whisper multiple times with multiple people and am willing to provide logs that show it can easily be concentrated out with plenty of time to move. ---on 2/18 @ 01:23 writes: Considering that my research for this ability comes from experience and first hand accounts and logs of the ability itself, trying to imply any form of misinformation from Narsrim holds no merit. In my logs, the equilibrium cost equals the concentrate length which Sior can check easily enough for confirmation thereof. The argument still remains that an ability which doesn't require the prone status for that level of an effect (unlike Stagform which needs a 10p defense to bump down the cost that low and still requires a prior status) takes such into account for the suggested fix. ---on 2/19 @ 05:54 writes: Yes, I admit. I am one of those mages that locks a person down with whispers. I can totally understand bumping up the power cost two, but it does effect only one person. I always thought of it as a mage choke kind of thing. Ruiku can vouch for me doing this to him. A great raid stopper! ---on 2/21 @ 06:19 writes: Not that this totally discredits the problem, but some of the information presented is actually incorrect. The equilibrium for casting whisper is slightly longer than the eq for concentrate. The problem occurs when the target has lag >= 0.5s. Over time I've developed a mental list of people who will not get locked by whispers (they're usually always the same people), one of which is someone I've heard lives in the same city as the Lusternia servers, so the correlation is pretty clear I think. Still, given eq boosts like celerity and taintedlove, some small nerf might be in order, but I don't know if I want to go down that path of logic because then we might, for example, conclude that lash needs to be nerfed because it drains ungodly amounts of mana with nightshadeblues. Regardless, the turkey you've put on this table is far too fat; I don't know if you're aware, but there's a skill in Shofangi called bullsnort that disrupts at 4s eq for no power. Either making whisper 0p and 4s eq (like bullsnort), or raising the power cost to 2p, or meeting in the middle and making it a 3.25 second eq with 1p cost, would all be reasonable I think. 4s eq for 2p is a bit much ---on 2/21 @ 08:04 writes: Though I don't personally see how a stand alone skill like Whispers becomes equivalent to the two separate skills of Lash and NightshadeBlues, I wouldn't mind seeing it being bumped to 0p at a 4s equilibrium cost. ---on 2/21 @ 15:50 writes: Ah, sorry, was talking about whispers + celerity and/or taintedlove in that comparison, in case it wasn't clear.